ms. delauro: i yield 30 seconds. ms. lee: the welfare reform act prevents anyone and only those who were formerly convicted of drug felonies from ever receiving cash assistance and food stamps even after completing their sentence and overcoming an addiction. i have interviewsed 5802 and i wanted to talk to the gentlelady tonight about this very important issue. i hope that sooner or later we can repeal this ban, because it is a barrier for those who have re-entered society and they deserve to be eligible for food stamps. ms. delauro: i yield myself 15 seconds. i assure the gentlewoman that we will correct the inequity that has been in place since the reform bill. time has come to address this issue in a meaningful way. we are talking about individuals who have paid their debt to society and should be given a new opportunity to make a new life and provide food assistance for themselves and families. right thing to do. the chair: the gentleman from georgia continues to reserve. the gentlelady from connecticut. ms. delauro:

ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i move to lay the appeal on the table.the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to table. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. mr. kingston: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia rise? mr. kingston: on that i ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: on this vote, the yeas are 246, the nays are 179, the motion is adopted. without objection, a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> mr. spea

ms. rosa delauro, for five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from connecticut is recognized for five minutes. ms. delauro: i'd like to thank the ranking member of the subcommittee, mr. kingston, for his input over the last few months. our staffs have worked together effectively and together we've crafted what i believe is a very strong, bipartisan bill. the house is not in order, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. ms. delauro: in addition, i think this agriculture-f.d.a. appropriations bill is a smarter, better piece of legislation, thanks to the hard work of the subcommittee and the full committee. we have looked at many, many different amendments that have come up over the process of writing the bill and we have honed into some very worthy and effective legislation. we've had an open process throughout the committee and subcommittee markups. i believe this rule sets in motion what has been a fair process. i understand that close to 100 amendments were submitted to the com

ms. delauro: mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that the resolution be considered as read and printed in the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the resolution is agreed to and the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to house resolution 644 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of h.r. 3170. will the gentleman from florida, mr. hastings, kindly resume the chair. the chair: time for general debate -- the house is now in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for the further consideration of the bill, h.r. 3170, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill making appropriations for financial services and general government for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2010, and for other purposes. the chair: when the committee of the whole house rose earlier today, all time for general debate had expired. pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read for

ms. delauro and secretary vilsack, secretary lahood, i know the demands and your time are enormous this time of year. >> may i interrupt? ms. sematic question for the record for the secretaries? >> all members including the ranking member will have seven days without objection to submit questions for the director. once again, i know that the demands upon your time are enormous but it speaks volumes for a commitment in this administration's commitment to turning this economy around to, gillis these forthright, clear credible answers. i think we leave here believing the recovery act is working and will continue to work by design and will help pull us out of this worst slump since the 1930's for the thank you very much indeed for your contribution. jo you are watching xan created for you. next, washington journal. talking about hemming care legislation. after that, testimony from federal chairman ben bernanke about the u.s. economy and monetary policy. jo starting next on c-span, washington journal. our guests include kevin madden and steve

ms. delauro, one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. delauro: i rise in support of this bill and thank chairman waxman and chairman emeritus dingell for their hard work. the bill begins a long task of rectifying decades of neglect by updating f.d.a.'s ancient tar heels and outdated mandate. it gives the f.d.a. the means to deal with dangers imposed by a global food system and enhances their ability to prevent food contamination. it incorporates key provisions from legislation i introduced this year. it moves the f.d.a. to a risk-based inspection system. it requires the agency to inspect the highest risk facilities once every six months to a year rather than once a decade. it enhances reporting requirements for companies and establishes performance standards for fighting food-based pathogens. performance standards form the backbone for monitoring the effectiveness of process control systems and identifying the foods at greatest risk. i continue to strongly believe that the best way to protect our food supply is to streamline the f.d.a. in

ms. delauro: mr. speaker, i rise in support of this rule, and i commend the chairman and the staff for an excellent bill which reflects our noblest priorities as a nation. it has been said that society should be judged by how it treats its least fortunate members, and with this bill, i believe we do our nation proud. the goal of the bill has always been to make a strong investment in our future, to take seriously our responsibilities to the american public on the issues that affect people every single day. from our health, to our children's education, to scientific research that will unlock the cures of tomorrow, from protecting workers, to providing the training they need to succeed in today's economy. our bill does not disappoint, and, yes, to help states serve both the 14 million unemployed americans and the many million more -- millions of underemployed americanses, the bill provides training, for support of workers, on working protection. the bill provides an increased to key health and safety pr

ms. delauro. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. delauro: i rise in opposition for this amendment. it decreases high speed rail funding. we need to look to improve our way of life, create jobs, force long-term economic growth which we can go through an infrastructure bank, which is an independent entity, would consider a broad range of infrastructure projects objectively, leverage hundreds of billions of dollars in private capital to put toward rebuilding america. this is not a partisan issue. this past week a bipartisan national governors association endorsed the concept of an infrastructure bank by resolution. the u.s. chamber of commerce, labor groups strongly support this effort. president bush's transportation secretary, mary peters, said there are upwards of $4 billion in private capital available through pension funds, sovereign wealth funds to invest in our nation's infrastructure. we need to harness the power of that private capital in a smart way and in an effective way in order for us to remain competitive in the 21st cent

ms. delauro and secretary vilsack, secretary lahood, i know the demands and your time are enormous this time of year. >> may i interrupt? ms. sematic question for the record for the secretaries? >> all members including the ranking member will have seven days without objection to submit questions for the director. once again, i know that the demands upon your time are enormous but it speaks volumes for a commitment in this administration's commitment to turning this economy around to, gillis these forthright, clear credible answers. i think we leave here believing the recovery act is working and will continue to work by design and will help pull us out of this worst slump since the 1930's for the thank you very much indeed for your contribution. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] next week the senate judiciary committee is scheduled to vote to confirm supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. on friday to senators talked about judge sotomayor. we will hear from senator ted kaufman in favor of for confirmation and center john cornyn in opposition. this is 20 minutes. >> mr. pres

ms. delauro and the ranking member of that subcommittee, mr. kingston. recognizing that the appropriations process has seen members engage in dilatory practices, mr. kingston made it clear that if we were to have an open amendment process, that he would do everything within his power to ensure that shenanigans would not take place on our side of the aisle because we all acknowledge we want to get the work done. mr. cantor has said that, mr. lewis has said that, we want that to take place. what we're arguing is that, if you look at when we've had structured rules in the past, they have in almost every instance followed the inability of the subcommittee chair and ranking member to successfully propound a unanimous consent agreement. so while mr. cantor has just made an offer, i would like to -- i frankly believe that we should do everything we can to at least attempt, just take one of the appropriations bills, and see if, not the majority leader and the republican whip, or the republican leader and the speaker, or whatever, you know, the top elected positi

ms. delauro: thank you. we have an opportunity.the laws and the man and the statutes at the food and drug administration today are inadequate to protect the food and the safety of the american people and at the very same time put at risk the industries that teal with these products. the industry has come forward and said, give us standards. that's what this bill is all about. we have an obligation today to pass this bill and to make sure that we say to the american people we are doing everything that we can to prevent 5,000 deaths every single day and particularly the most vulnerable are our children and the elderly. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois. mr. shimkus: yes, mr. speaker. i'd like to yield as much time as he may consume, the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, let's face it. the recent events have shown us that the current system regarding food safety is not working.